In RuneScape, Thieving is a very diverse skill. You can pick locks, loot chests and pyramids, steal from stalls, and even pickpocket certain people. All of these acts can be very rewarding; however, it's still dangerous as there are always characters on the lookout for annoying thieves. There are many tips and tricks you can use to your advantage when Thieving!

When it comes right down to it, Thieving is a relatively easy skill to level and to train. The only drawback is that it requires constant attention, unlike other skills such as Fletching and Cooking, where you can do other things in the meantime.

2.0 - Lock Picking

Throughout the RuneScape world, you will find that you are unable to open certain doors. If you are lucky, the door you are trying to pass through can be pick locked. To pick a lock, simply right click on the door and select "Pick-lock." If you are successful, the door will open you will automatically walk through. If you fail, you will have to try again.

Successfully opening some locked doors requires you to have a Lockpick in your inventory in order to pick their locks. You can obtain Lockpicks from other players, or by pickpocketing them from Bandits and Rogues. Martin Thwait in the Rogues' Den also sells Lockpicks.

Unlike doors, the chests you are able to thieve from in RuneScape are not safe. If you do not take care when thieving from chest, the traps hidden in them will hurt you. To find a trap on a chest, right click on it and select "Search for traps." Your character will automatically find the trap and disarm it if your Thieving level is high enough.

Please note that when you loot the Paladin and Blood rune chests, you will be teleported outside their containing buildings. For the most part, chests do not give very good experience. The only chest that is really worth thieving is the Blood rune chest since it produces a fair amount of profit on top of the experience given. (NOTE: When thieving the Dorgesh-Kaan chests, you will need a Lockpick).

In the past, you could only thieve stalls in the city of Ardougne, but now there are many stall-thieving activities around the globe. Stealing from stalls is a lot like chest looting; however, there are no traps on the stall. Instead, certain in-game characters will be on the lookout for thieves like you and will fight you or knock you out if they catch you.

To thieve from a stall, right click and select "Steal from." If nobody catches you in the act, you will take the items from the stall and they will appear in your inventory.

You may be caught by the stall owner or any guard type NPC surrounding the stall. To avoid this, try to stay out of their lines of sight.

When training the skill of Thieving, the stalls that require a high Thieving level to steal from are not very useful because of their slow rates of respawn. I would recommend thieving from the Vegetable, Baker's, Tea, Silk, Seed, and Fur stalls for the best experience.

Please note that the time listed is when stealing from a stall on a crowded world. An emptier world will have a slower respawn time.

Pickpocketing is one of the major aspects of thieving since there are so many characters to pick pocket around RuneScape. To pick the pocket of a NPC, right click on it and select "Pickpocket."

If you are successful, you will have gained some loot and thieving experience. If you fail, the NPC will stun you. When you are stunned, you will be unable to move.

Remember the higher the Thieving level you have, the lower the chance that you will fail.

Pick pocketing will usually bring the best experience for thieving enthusiasts. The best NPC's to thieve from for the most efficient training would be Men/Women, Warrior women, Warriors, Rogues, Master farmers, Guards, Desert bandits, Knights of Ardougne, Yanille Watchmen, and Paladins.

On January 10, 2010, Jagex released an update to Agility that would make things more beneficial. Thieving was one of the 3 skills that would receive benefits, alongside Fishing and Hunter. Now, you have the opportunity to pickpocket some NPCs multiple times instead of just once! The higher the Thieving level the NPC requires, the higher your Agility level has to be.

In order to double pickpocket, your Thieving level needs to be 10 levels higher than usual, and your Agility 10 levels below that. For triple pickpocketing, your Thieving level must be 20 levels higher than usual, with your Agility level 10 below that once more. Last but not least, in order to quadruple pickpocket someone, your Thieving level must be 30 levels higher than usual, and Agility 10 behind again. However, when you get to higher level NPCs, you won't be able to necessarily double, triple, or quadruple pickpocket them.

You'll know when you successfully pickpocket someone multiple times because if you double pickpocket, you will have both of your hands pull out an item, triple being three items, and quadruple four. Additionally, your chatbox will say when you have done so. You can click to pickpocket someone again, even while this emote is going on.

NPC

Level

x2 Thiev. level

x2 Agil. level

x3 Thiev. level

x3 Agil. level

x4 Thiev. level

x4 Agil. level

Man

1

11

1

21

11

31

21

Farmer

10

20

10

30

20

40

30

Female H.A.M. follower

15

25

15

35

25

45

35

Male H.A.M. follower

20

30

20

40

30

50

40

Warrior

25

35

25

45

35

55

45

Rogue

32

42

32

52

42

62

52

Cave goblin

36

46

36

56

46

66

56

Master farmer

38

48

38

58

48

68

58

Guard

40

50

40

60

50

70

60

Fremennik citizen

45

55

45

65

55

75

65

Bearded Pollnivian bandit

45

55

45

65

55

75

65

Desert bandit

53

63

53

73

63

83

73

Knight

55

65

55

75

65

85

75

Pollnivian bandit

55

65

55

75

65

85

75

Watchman

65

75

65

85

75

-

-

Menaphite thug

65

75

65

85

75

-

-

Paladin

70

80

70

90

80

-

-

Gnome

75

85

75

-

-

-

-

Hero

80

90

80

-

-

-

-

Elf

85

-

-

-

-

-

-

Dwarf trader

90

-

-

-

-

-

-

7.0 - Training Methods

The following steps are a guide to help you level Thieving as fast as possible. Remember that they are just guidelines.

Level 1–5

When you first start out Thieving, there is not much choice of what to thieve. You can start out thieving Man and Woman and Vegetable Stalls between levels 1-4. Once you have reached level 5, make your way to the Tea stall in south-east Varrock.

Level 5–20

After reaching level 5 Thieving, you can now thieve items from the Tea stall, which is the best experience at your level for a while. You rarely get caught and if you do, nothing happens. It is recommend thieving from the tea stall until about 20 Thieving.

These levels will most likely be the most monotonous. But at least they can be summed up into two words: Master farmer. The Master farmer does not give the most experience you could get, but is the fastest way to raise your level. Rapidly clicking him over and over not only gives you an easy target to steal from, but also, at some times, very good seeds such as Ranarr and Snapdragon. He is a very good choice over most other things during these levels.

Level 41–55

If you like Master farmers you may continue doing them as they will bring in some money. If you are already bored of them then there are several other options.

At level 41 you can now enter the secretive Thieves' Guild upon completion of the second part of the Buyers and Cellars quest. With a Lockpick in your inventory go to the chests and loot all the doors, the chests to the south, and one of the northern chests if you have the time.

Guards in Varrock, Falador, or Ardougne are your final option for some variation. Bring plenty of food, you can fill your inventory since the only thing you can loot from them is coins.

Level 55–65

You can continue with the method you used from level 41-55, if you prefer, but the next option available is Knight of Ardougne. Alternate between thieving them and the baker's stall if you need food.

Level 65–70

Now you can thieve from Menaphite thugs. Head to Pollnivneach and lure the thug to the northern building so you can trap him behind the curtains to ensure he doesn't move. It is highly recommended to complete Feud, the quest to be able to use a Maple blackjack. This can be continued up until 95 if you do not like the higher level methods.

Additionally, you can begin Pyramid plundering at 71 to start your fast levelling. Loot the 5th room before you go onto room 6 in order to get more experience per run—the run to the room can take away a bit of your time. For more information, check out our Pyramid Plunder guide.

The best and fastest way to train your Thieving at this level is to use Pyramid Plunder. As a quick rundown, Pyramid Plundering involves going through a series of rooms and looting the treasure that you find. You will find a Gold chest in each room, as well as a Sarcophagus, and an assortment of Urns. It's usually a waste of time to look for snakes in the urns, so just try looting them. Should you not be able to loot one, or if you're running out of time, then you should consider checking for snakes.

Pyramid Plundering is almost always the leader of experience when it comes to Thieving, especially at higher levels. However, when you reach level 81, the best way to get your Thieving up is by Blackjacking Menaphites in the desert. When you reach level 91, it is highly recommended that you use Pyramid Plundering to finish off your experience.

Pyramid Level(Thieving required)

XP per hour

XP per game

1 (21)

8–10k

800

2 (31)

18–20k

1,800

3 (41)

25–30k

2,500

4 (51)

45–50k

4,500

5 (61)

50–80k

7,000

6 (71)

100–120k

10,000

7 (81)

150–180k

15,000

8 (91)

200–240k

20,000

Blackjacks

Jagex introduced items called blackjacks during Feud, The quest. These are very handy in pick pocketing, because depending on the type of blackjack, it can stun your opponent for a certain period, allowing you to pickpocket them successfully without being stunned. Although you can only use them on the NPCs in the quest city of Pollnivneach, blackjacks are a great way to train until level 71 because it is the fastest training method allowing you to get 150k experience an hour. However, it also requires concentration and many clicks, placing it behind Pyramid Plunder in this manner.

Sorceress' Garden

Another way to gain experience quickly, especially at lower levels such as 45–71, is to do the Sorceress's Garden. The gardens are four seasonal mazes in which lie corresponding elementals (Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring). The object of each maze is to either reach one of the two ends: The herb patches (which are easier to reach), or the Sk'irk fruit trees at the furthest point of the maze. When you take herbs or a fruit, you are automatically teleported outside by the main fountain. There are many ways to make your way through the gardens but players usually find small quirks to shave time off of each run. This can be and is a very effective way to train thieving if spam clicking or Pyramids aren't your thing. See our Sorceress's Garden guide for more information about them.

Osman from the Sorceress's Garden minigame gives very generous thieving experience in exchange for Sq'irk juice. However, it's probably better to make money rather than try and get all of the Sq'irks required for the juice.

Thieves' Guild

Although not much information has been gathered depicting experience, after doing the quest Buyers and Cellars, you will be granted brief access to the Thieves' Guild. Blackjacking here may be a good idea if you need a change of scenery; the experience is rather close to Pyramid Plunder.

8.0 - Other Information

8.1 - Random Event

There is only one random event for Thieving: the pillory. This random event gets you sent to the pillory where the game locks you in a cage and you have to unlock it to get out. While you are in the cage, a NPC will throw tomatoes at you, also other players can throw at you while you are caged. However, although this used to be involved only with Thieving, it is now an event that can happen regardless of what you're doing.

Strategies

An effective way to pickpocket an NPC is so corner it so it can't move. However, you should make sure that you let them wander around every few minutes, or they reset to their spawning point. In addition, if you attack your NPC by mistake just go up some near by stairs and come back down and it will stop attacking you. The best method is to use that will ensure that you don't attack your NPC is by equipping any type of bow, without equipping arrows. This will prevent you from accidentally attacking them.

When thieving, click to theive someone as fast as possible to get the best experience. If you get stunned, start clicking pickpocket again a second before the stun wears off due to the fact it takes a second to register the command in game.

If you are Thieving in Ardougne center, do not bother to bring your own food. Just buy Cakes from the Baker or just thieve. If you are Thieving from a stall try, and lock the shop owner or nearby guards into a building so they catch you less often. However, it does not always help, most of the time it does.

Those who wish to be a little more accurate while Thieving will can get Dark kebbit fur from the Falconry Hunting Area. The Dark kebbits can be caught if you have 57 Hunter. The fur can be made into Gloves of silence which increase your success rate of Thieving, but they require a Hunter level of 54. The gloves degrade when players are caught pickpocketing and are destroyed after about 60 failures. Another common item is the Ardougne cloak 3. It increases your chances of not getting caught while pickpocketing, which can definitely come in handy!

Rogues' Den

You have to work your way around a challenging maze, working steadily to not step into traps or you can be sent back to the beginning! You can win a nice set of armour from doing this, as well as a nice amount of Agility and Thieving experience! Check out the guide on Rogues' Den.

9.0 - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I double/triple/quadruple pickpocket an NPC, will I receive the additional experience for doing that?

A: No—you will only recieve double, triple, or quadruple loot, respectively. The XP will remain the same as a single pickpocket.

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